Which body Mooney body length looks best?

[rbridges]

I was pulling the plane out, and I've always thought the short bodies looked kinda stubby.  Especially when I've been parked next to newer models. Just an informal poll, but which do you think looks best?  I think the F/J's seem most balanced. The newer ones with the extended fuselage seem a little too long IMO.  I realize it's based on function, but from a purely esthetic standpoint, I wondered what others thought. 

[Bob_Belville]

In my opinion the paint scheme is a big factor. Pic is my short body. Borrowing a scheme from a new (long body) plane may need considerable modification to use on a plane with a much different profile.

[Oldguy]

Owning a J, I want to agree with @rbridges, but I also have to agree with @Bob_Belville. It is as much the paint as it is the body style.

But we all look awesome with our tail pointing the right way!

[Parker_Woodruff]

In flight, I think the Acclaim and Bravo look the best.

On the ground I think the M20K with 3 blade MT looks the best.

[gsxrpilot]

It's certainly in the eye of the beholder (owner/pilot)... I've always thought the short bodies look a lot better with the 201 windshield than with the original vertical glass. And the long bodies look good, except for the long rear windows with the bulkhead showing through it.

Personally the mid-bodies are the best proportioned if you ask me... especially the ones with a little longer nose.  

And I really like the slightly longer rounded windows. 

[Andy95W]

2 hours ago, rbridges said:

I was pulling the plane out, and I've always thought the short bodies looked kinda stubby.  Especially when I've been parked next to newer models. Just an informal poll, but which do you think looks best?  I think the F/J's seem most balanced. The newer ones with the extended fuselage seem a little too long IMO.  I realize it's based on function, but from a purely esthetic standpoint, I wondered what others thought. 

I'm with Bob- @rbridges- the long bodies look too long and it always looks like the tail is trying to drag on the ground.  I agree with Paul that the best look is the mid-body with the rounded windows.

I've owned 2 different M20Cs and loved them both, but I think they do look a little stubby.  Of the two, I think the 1964 and earlier look better with the rounded windows.

[johncuyle]

I like the look of the E model with the square windows and J cowling and windscreen upgrades. Except for the Acclaim cowling I think the J was the most attractive, the raked windscreen improves every model, and the short body with the square windows just looks the most "right" to me. I don't care for unmodified "old" Mooneys. I think the most ungainley ones are the original mid bodies with the double rear window and the old curved rear window. The long bodies look just a little too long to me.


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[flight2000]

3 hours ago, Parker_Woodruff said:

In flight, I think the Acclaim and Bravo look the best.

On the ground I think the M20K with 3 blade MT looks the best.

...and at the fuel pump, I think the E model is the best...

Cheers,

Brian

[aviatoreb]

3 hours ago, Parker_Woodruff said:

In flight, I think the Acclaim and Bravo look the best.

On the ground I think the M20K with 3 blade MT looks the best.

4 blade.

But love the one yet with!

Plus mine can fly straight up.

 

[MIm20c]

I’d vote for the ‘86+ K’s

[carusoam]

Mathematicians and their high tech photo-trickery.... 

I prefer anything with a slanted windshield, and the tail not only put on right, but trimmed for max speed too!

Got to look fast while on the ground...  nobody is going to see anything more than a blur when a Mooney is flying by...

Unless the photographer is also in a Mooney... Coolest looking Mooneys are flying in formation...

Coolest Looking Mooney....  The Mite.... Even the M20R looks like the mighty Mite....  a Mite on steroids.

A place to see the Coolest Mooney... Find the Mooney fly-in nearest you...  nearest doesn’t really matter... Mooneys are good at traveling...

Go Mooney!

Best regards,

-a-

PS... The Rocket isn’t quite capable of vertical climbs beyond 5k’.... But the first 5k’ go by really quickly....

[Mooney in Oz]

I love them all!  

[N201MKTurbo]

Oh, the mid bodies like the two I have owned look the best by far!

 

Now if someone gives me a long body, I may change my opinion....

[Danb]

The baddest looking of any Mooney out the has to be Erik’s, that’s one nasty looking beast, the paint color and scheme is to cool.

[Kmac]

17 hours ago, Andy95W said:

I'm with Bob- @rbridges- the long bodies look too long and it always looks like the tail is trying to drag on the ground.  I agree with Paul that the best look is the mid-body with the rounded windows.

I've owned 2 different M20Cs and loved them both, but I think they do look a little stubby.  Of the two, I think the 1964 and earlier look better with the rounded windows.

I love the rounded windows as well...I would love to have a 64' E model...

[gsxrpilot]

A 1964 C with the rounded windows and the sloped 201 windshield, with the 201 wingtips to add that extra touch.

[M20F]

The F is clearly the best.  It is like a Brioni suite wrapped around its well appointed Executive.  

[M20F]

The F is clearly the best.  It is like a Brioni suite wrapped around its well appointed Executive.  

[DXB]

Long straight lines in the paint scheme and the J style spinner make the stubby short bodies look a lot longer.  Also I think omission of the dorsal fin on some of the '68 and later Cs actually looks a lot cleaner.  

The friend who convinced me to buy a C model owns a '67C with an Ovation paint scheme on it, which I think makes the plane look tiny. When he first saw my new '68C, he was incredulous that it was basically the identical airframe and not a mid body.   

[Hank]

Had two compliments on my paint job yesterday, starting with the guy in the FBO asking where I was going when I taxied in.

The 201 windshield and wingtips help. The roofline is a straight line from nust behind the windshield to the horizontal stabilizer, and the huge bulge in the long bodies goes against this aesthetic. While I really like my C, I think the mid-body has a nicer profile.

[Cody Stallings]

The K Model with a 520 stuffed under the Hood!!! I could be a little Bias though.

Im actually a Fan of any of the K’s to be honest.

Edited May 25, 2019 by Cody Stallings
Pic

[Andy95W]

I like Dev's lack of dorsal fin so much I'm thinking of changing mine!

Just an interesting aside- check out all the short body elevators on the ground- all of them are almost exactly the same angle.

[bonal]

IMHO I think  that all our M20's look great compared to the other brands one difference to all the others is how low they sit on the gear makes them look like they're going fast even when standing still. I concur the dorsal fin makes the short bodies look stubby and without it they look longer and more sleek. It also makes our famous tail look bigger.  As for the "vertical" stock split window it's far from vertical. I know my mechanics sure like it better when working on anything behind the panel.

 

[201er]

Leave it to mooneyspacers to compare size, even break out a ruler and get down to inch by inch 

[MBDiagMan]

The way the question is asked, the answer is nothing more than a matter of taste.  My taste is the later model short bodies with the square windows look the best.